Green mobility
March 2022 – The law organising the fiscal and social greening of mobility was published in the Belgian Official Journal on 3 December 2021. Even though some of the provisions will not come into force for a few years, it is important to take action in good time.
Carbon-free company cars
The law consists of five main parts. The first part aims to encourage employers to green the cars they provide for their staff. "Company cars with a CO2 emission of more than zero that are bought, leased or rented from 1 January 2026 will no longer be tax deductible.
Only company cars with zero carbon emissions will still be tax deductible. But this deduction will also decrease over the years: a carbon-free company car purchased in 2026 will be 100% deductible. The same carbon-free company car purchased in 2027 will only be eligible for a 95% deduction. For a
purchase in 2028, the deduction percentage will only be 90% ... and so on until 2031, when you will only be entitled to a tax deduction of 67.50%.
Company cars with CO2 emissions purchased before 2026 will be subject to a transitional regime. If the car was purchased before 1 July 2023, nothing changes from the current situation. Only hybrid vehicles are subject to a small adjustment.
Cars purchased between 1 July 2023 and 31 December 2025 will continue to be subject to the old rules, but for these cars the deduction will only be 75% (instead of 100%) for the tax year 2026. For the tax year 2027, this deduction percentage will fall to 50%, and for the tax year 2028 to 25%. From tax year 2029 onwards, the deduction will be reduced to zero.
Company cars with no CO2 emissions were and remain 100% deductible.
It should also be noted in passing that the expense deduction of 0,15 euros per kilometre for travel to and from work with a private car will only be permitted from the 2027 tax year onwards if the employee drives a car with no carbon emissions.
Solidarity contribution
At present, the employer pays a solidarity contribution on all the vehicles he provides to his employees. For the time being (2022), this contribution amounts to a minimum of 28,17 euros per month, but also depends on the CO2 emission.
For vehicles purchased, leased or rented from 1 July 2023, this solidarity contribution will increase by a factor of 2,25. The factor will then increase on 1 January 2025 (to 2,75), on 1 January 2026 (to 4) and on 1 January 2027 (to 5,50).
The minimum amount of the CO2 solidarity contribution will also increase: to 23,41 euros from 1 January 2025, to 25,99 euros from 1 January 2026, to 28,57 euros from 1 January 2027 and to 31,15 euros from 1 January 2028.
Charging infrastructure for electric cars
To encourage taxpayers to install charging stations, the legislator has introduced a tax reduction for individuals and an increased deduction for companies.
Individuals who, between 1 September 2021 and 31 August 2024, have an electric car charging station installed in or near the dwelling in which they live on 1 January of the tax year benefit from a tax reduction. This reduction decreases over time:
investment between 1 September 2021 and 31 December 2022: 45% ;
investment between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2023: 30%; and
investment between 1 January 2024 and 31 August 2024: 15%.
The tax reduction amounts to a maximum of 1,500 euros per charging station and per taxpayer.
Companies that invest in a charging station between 1 September 2021 and 31 August 2024 can count on an increased expense deduction. For investments made in the period from 1 September 2021 to 31 December 2022, the percentage of depreciation deduction is 200%. For investments made in the period from 1 January 2023 to 31 August 2024, the percentage is 150%.
However, there are two important conditions to be met: The charging point must be accessible to the public and the investment must be subject to straight-line depreciation over a minimum period of five years.
Carbon-free truck
A company that acquires a new carbon-free truck or has a hydrogen refuelling infrastructure or electric charging station installed is entitled to an increased investment allowance.
The percentage of the investment deduction is :
35,0% in 2022 and 2023 ;
29,5% in 2024;
24,0% in 2025;
18,5% in 2026; and
13,5% in 2027.
To compensate for this measure in budgetary terms, transport companies lose part of the exemption from the special excise duty on commercial diesel. For certain types of diesel, these companies benefit from an exemption from excise duty of 247,6158 euros per 1,000 litres. This benefit is gradually being reduced.
Mobility budget
The mobility budget has been in existence since 2019, but is still little used. In short, the measure allows employees - provided their employer agrees - to exchange their company car for an annual budget that they can use for mobility expenses. Firstly, the mobility budget can be used for the purchase of another, more environmentally friendly company car (pillar 1). Secondly, the budget can be allocated to sustainable means of transport (pillar 2). Allocations in pillar 2 are exempt from social security contributions and taxes. If there is still a budget left after these two pillars, the balance can be paid in cash.
From 1 January 2022, the possibilities for allocating funds in pillar 2 will be extended: employees will now also be able to use their budget for electric scooters, bicycle loans and parking costs for using public transport.
In addition, the amount of the mobility budget must fall within a certain range: the budget must be between a minimum of 3 000 euros and a maximum of one fifth of total gross pay, with an absolute maximum of 16 000 euros per calendar year. This range applies to all new mobility budgets. For mobility budgets that were granted before 3 December 2021, the range will only be applied from 1 January 2023.
